You stay classy Alabama

Terrelle Pryor is smart

Oh the many talents of Terrelle Pryor... In addition to unnecessary recruiting antics, and quarterbacking the Buckeyes to another bowl loss, the man is soon to be regarded as one of the preeminent sociology scholors of our time, or any time for that matter.

Pryor sheds some critical insight on everyone's favorite dog killer, Michael Vick:

Not everybody is the perfect person in the world. Everyone does -- kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me. I just feel that people need to give him a chance.

That's right people. You have no room to look down on Vick's hanging and electrocution of dogs, because you too have killed and murdered. You've also stolen from Pryor and apparently stolen from me as well.

For a more coddling, "Oh he's just a kid who idolizes Vick, cut him slack" point of view, click here to read Dan Wetzel. He's right of course. Pryor is only 20 years old, still years away from knowing right from wrong. Blind adulation of seriously flawed individuals has never been a bad idea. Ever.

Stephen Garcia is almost as good as Tim Tebow

I know it's true because I read it on the internet and now you can too. Everybody's a homer for their favorite team, don't get me wrong, but tempering your homerism is essential if you want to be taken even remotely seriously. So needless to say including a paragraph that says...

So, while Tebow may be a two time national champion, a Heisman winner, and the darling of college football fans everywhere, the quarterback of Carolina football isn't far off. He even wasn't that far off Tebow in the interception department - Garcia threw eight picks on the year to Tebow's six. If Garcia can reach his potential, USC may have a real shot to compete with teams like Florida for an SEC championship.

... it's going to raise more than a few eyebrows.

First off, Tebow only threw 4 INTs last year, not 6. Secondly, Tebow attempted 298 passes, meaning he was intercepted on about 1.3% of his throws. Garcia attempted just 122 passes, meaning he was picked off on about 6.5% of his throws. When you couple in Tebows 30 TDs and Garcia's paltry 6 TDs, you start to realize how nonsensical this statement is.

It's put up or shut up time for Garcia. His misadventures off the field far outweigh anything he's ever accomplished on the field. It's time to see what - if anything - he can actually accomplish on the football field. He's most likely a top5 QB in the SEC, which isn't really saying much this year. So far his career more closely mimics that of Ryan Perrilloux than Tim Tebow - flashes of great potential on the field, trouble staying out of trouble off the field.

The easiest job in the world

It must be nice to get paid for writing articles about why Ole Miss and Mississippi State should play Southern Miss in Football. You can churn out 300-400 words without even thinking and come up with hyperbolic headlines like "No downside to MSU-USM football game."

Credit Patrick Magee of the Hattiesburg American for taking the idiocy to a new level though. Typically the argument revolves around the Rebel or Bulldog fan mentioning a lack of desire to subsidize the Golden Eagle football program with the USM fan responding with a witty retort such as "Naw, you're skeered to play at the Rawk!" But not according to Magee:

Some fans make the argument that there would be an explosion of bad behavior by fans if USM played the two SEC schools on the football field. I’m not exactly sure where this idea comes from. While I realize it’s a different sport, I was courtside for the Ole Miss-USM basketball game last year in Biloxi and there were no punches thrown or even moderate bickering between the two groups.

Seriously? That's why you think that Boone and Templeton/Byrne have avoided playing USM... bickering amongst fans? And then this closing sentence...

A simple look at the situation reveals there is no downside of the schools meeting in football. It will only generate even more excitement surrounding the sport in an already football-crazy state.

... shows how disconnected from reality Magee really is. From a Southern Miss standpoint, I'm sure that's enough to get the hair standing up on their arms. If he could step outside of his black and gold for a minute, he'd find out that this fantasy land that USM fans and media have created - the series is what both fan bases want - is just that... a fantasy. There are very few Ole Miss or State fans I know that want a series to happen. The reasons have been reiterated on this site and others time and again and aren't worth getting into again.

If only Magee and other USM-canned-rhetoric regurgitators would take the same hint.

Any idiot can write on the internets

The very existence of this blog should be proof of that, though I at least (occasionally) try to minimize the idiotic statements on this page. That's more than can be said for Jeremy Wood at The Barrow County News, who, as Senator Blutarsky points out, has created "easily the worst SEC preview I’ve read so far this preseason".

Here is Mr. Wood's assessment of the Rebels, with the emphasis mine:

Everyone seems to love these guys a little too much. They lucked into a win at Florida last year when the Gators couldn’t hang onto the ball, and beat an underwhelming LSU team and a we’re-not-interested-in-playing-in-the-Cotton-Bowl Texas Tech team down the stretch. Now they’re a top-ten team? They could take over for the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs as the team that was saddled with huge expectations and didn’t come through. Georgia in 2008 was much better than these guys are, and that Bulldog team couldn’t win their division. The caveat with Ole Miss is that they have the softest non-league slate of anybody in the conference – playing at Memphis will be their toughest opponent – and it wouldn’t completely surprise me to see them undefeated ... when LSU comes to town Nov. 21.

First off, you can never love the Rebels too much. But seriously, if the Rebels are undefeated on November 21st when LSU rolls into town, that's equivalent to a 10-0, 6-0 record, which would undoubtedly have any SEC team in the Top 10. I also don't get why Wood (and so many others for that matter) try to cheapen the Rebels wins over UF and TTU last season. All the Florida fans that I've talked to will freely admit that the Rebels just beat them at the line of scrimmage all day long. Sure Florida was the better team last year, but for one day in Gainesville last year, the Rebels just straight up outplayed them.

Same thing with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders just weren't ready for the team speed on defense and had no answer for the Wild Rebel. It had nothing to do with disinterest. They got hit in the mouth and had no answer. So they folded.

And as laughable as his assessment of Ole Miss is, at least he (sort of) attempts to justify it with some sort of reason. For Alabama, he just uses good old fashioned bias:

My favorite program to root against in the conference (I can’t stand Saban). They lost a veteran quarterback and four starters off their offensive line, which was their biggest strength a year ago. It definitely feels like a 7-5 team.

It's the dead horse that keeps on giving

Apparently, last week's pointless, deceased equestrian kicking article from The Sun Herald's editorial board about how Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Now, they've come back with this one with even more pandering... this time making sure they've made their points perfect clear.

Quite frankly, it's pathetic when you have to include a sentence like this:

First and foremost, this is not a charitable crusade on behalf of Southern Miss. Indeed, if the best interests of USM were our primary concern, then we would probably be lobbying for Southern Miss’ entry into the SEC, a move that would have far greater benefits for the Golden Eagles than simply playing two in-state SEC opponents.

Southern Miss in the SEC? Now that's high comedy. Their stadium holds a little more than 1,000 more fans than Vanderbilt's does and they don't bring up the conference GPA like the Commodores do. There's absolutely no conceivable rationale to even suggesting that except to throw fuel on a fire that exactly ONE fanbase has any desire to stoke.

There is absolutely nothing to gain for Ole Miss and Mississippi State to subsidize USM's football program. The article says "...it has been 19 years since MSU played USM in football and 25 years since Ole Miss did. That is ridiculous." To which I say, "No, that's business." The Rebel and Bulldog fanbases are just not interested in seeing that game. That's who the respective administrations are interesting in pleasing... not a small but vocal group of USM fans convinced they're being wronged.

Then there's this:

Tens of thousands of fans — and their money — would flow across the state … and stay in the state. It would be to the economic advantage of stores and restaurants and hotels throughout Mississippi. And it would boost tax receipts in the cities and counties where those businesses are located.

That, sports fans, is clearly a legitimate concern for the governor and the Legislature, and that is why we encourage the Legislature to mandate that these games be scheduled as soon as possible.

Where to even begin with this statement? First, how many hotel room reservations will be lost because people would make the road trip that morning and leave after the game? Not to mention the dinners people wouldn't be eating in the towns as people would hit McDonalds or Taco Bell on the way out of town. Then there's the lost alcohol sales as people would curtail their drinking so they could make the trip.

And, like I said before, Mississippi has enough actual problems to deal with - teen pregnancy, childhood obesity, education - that the governor and the Legislature should not spend one nanosecond concerned with who plays who in football. To make the suggestion not once but twice is utterly ridiculous and shows a real lack of understanding of priorities. In fact, it's downright embarrassing.

Scheduling high profile out of state games like Texas Tech and Wake Forest and Texas is a much shrewder business decision than babysitting Southern Miss. College football is big business in Mississippi and if you can't run with the bigger dogs, than get out of the way and stop begging for a bone.

Unheard of side effects of Jack Daniels

Just when you thought the Dog Pound Rock was the most embarrassing thing to come out of Starkville in recent memory, consider the debate about 7 day a week alcohol sales in Starkville which spawned an absurd one-liner like this:

Also against seven-day sales was Al Turner, who feared a rise in the number of gang rapes and other crimes.

“I know that Jack, Hennessy and Crown will make you do that,” he said.

Wait... what?

As quite the connoisseur of Mr. Daniel's wares, I'm struggling to remember the last gang rape I participated in. I'll grant you things get a little hazy from all the other crimes I commit in my Jack Daniels and Crown Royal induced rages, but still, I think I would remember participating in a gang rape. Maybe they should only legalize sales of Ketel One, Maker' Mark, and Johnnie Walker. Or do they have criminal side effects too?

I know If I had to spend any amount of time in Starkville, mass quantities of alcohol would be required for mere survival. But it did get to me thinking, and I looked at the label on my bottle of Jack at the house and, sure enough, right there on the label:Maybe next time I'll be more careful.

Tuesday Linkage

* An amusing read from Souvenir City about a Big12 Rivals writer calling the SEC Overated.

* Reason #4,576 that SEC Football is the best in the land... Houston Nutt is in the top 10% nationwide for salaries, which is good enough to land him 6th in the SEC.

* Reason #4,577 that SEC Football is the best in the land... This quote right here from The Daily Illini:

Reporters at Big Ten Media Days didn't focus on Tebow, but there was no shortage of discussion on the SEC.

While I wasn't at SEC Media days, I feel certain that Houston Nutt, Urban Myer, Lane Kiffin, et al, weren't fielding questions comapring the SEC to the Big 10.

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez even had this to say:

"I think our league is poised to have a big bowl performance situation very, very soon if you look at who's coming back in our league and the teams ... As a league, once we get a few big wins, whether it's regular season, nonconference, a BCS bowl or bowl games, that perception will change,"

Talking about it and doing it are two completely different animals though. Talking about it won't make the players in the Big10 bigger, stronger, faster, better. That's the difference between the leagues right now... not perception.

* There's a piece in The Sun Herald today that really offers no newsworthy information... lots of hype in Oxford, Jevan Snead is good, Paul Finebaum is an idiot, Ole Miss has never to Atlanta, etc. But I did want to make a comment or two on this excerpt:

Ole Miss is generating this buzz based on three or four things:

1) The Rebels are loaded on the defensive line, even after Peria Jerry’s departure;

2) They waylaid LSU at Tiger Stadium, and were the only team to beat Tim Tebow and Florida in 2008;

3) They can score points in bunches and move the football, whether they’re in their conventional offense or Houston Nutt’s beloved “Wild Rebel” scheme;

4) And most important, they’ve got a big-time quarterback.

I'll grant Mashek that those are all major factors in the hype. It certainly doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure that out. But in no way shape or form is that the limit of what is generating this buzz. Here are 3 more that popped into my head while I read this.

• The Rebels have as strong a stable of running backs as they ever have. Their ability to break away is key to Jevan Snead having space to throw in


• Alabama and LSU both come to Oxford this year


• And, perhaps most importantly, the other starting QBs in the division have yet to prove themselves on the field. Ryan Mallett seems to be regarded as the best of the bunch, but he's going to be working behind a patchwork OL, runs about a 10.9 40, and struggled mightily against Big10 defenses. Jordan Jefferson and Greg McElroy will be working with talent around them, but are unproven commodities at this point. Snead is the only one in the West, and one of two in the conference, that you know what you're going to get on a week to week basis.

Blind Side Previews up, looks pretty bad

Like any college football fan, particularly those blessed enough to be red and bue, I read and enjoyed Michael Lewis' The Blind Side. It was hard not to pull for Michael Oher to do well after his humble beginnings. When it was announced that there would be a movie adaptation, I was skeptical. Movies are rarely, if ever, up to par with their written counterparts. When it was announced Sandra Bullock was cast as Leanne Touhy, I officially gave up hope. Based on the above preview, that was the right decision.

The Blind Side seamlessly wove Oher's story with the emergence of the high salaries shelled out to left tackles, who's main job is to protect the blind side of the quarterback. When not dealing with the intricacies of the position, it portrayed Big Mike as a gentle giant who was rescued by an affluent family in East Memphis and focused on his (sometimes difficult) adjustment to that lifestyle.

At no point in the book was Leanne Touhy the focus. The trailer seems to portray her as the protagonist and focuses on her story. I understand that she's (for some reason) a popular actress, but Disney-fying the book is bad. Outside of Speed and A Time to Kill, I can't think of a single movie of hers that's even remotely watchable. You can tell from the snippets shown that they screenplay took some liberties with the actual story - Leanne threatening the guy at the table, for example - and made the movie about her, which is an absolute shame. Oher's story is a remarkable one, but apparently not enough so for Hollywood.

While it will be interesting to see Saban in an LSU shirt again and it's always entertaining trying to decipher what Ed Orgeron is saying, I'll wait until the DVD comes out to catch this, if even then.

***Update***
Blutarsky and Hey Jenny Slater share my skepticism, though Ghost at Red Cup Rebellion holds a more favorable view.

Shaun King is not very smart

By now, many of you have seen this clip from ESPN's tour of the 50 states in regards to college football, but it certainly merits attention from any college football fan. It is absolutely shameful that ESPN - the supposed "World Wide Leader in Sports" - allowed an apparently ignorant Shaun King to provide such stupid answers to John Saunder's questions regarding the rich history of college football in Mississippi.

First off, I have no issue with naming Walter Payton the greatest college player in state history. With the sheer amount of incredible individual talent to come through the state through the years, it's an endless argument, but it's easy to make a case for Payton. The issues come with the other "history" questions King fields.

Calling the 1999 mittippi tate bulldogs the best team in state history is absolutely comical at best. Behind the brilliant coaching strategy of Mr. Cutcliffe, the Rebels gave the Egg Bowl away that year. And while the 10-2 record and a top 15 finish is nice, the Rebels 2003 team finished 7-1 in the SEC and was a painful loss to LSU away from an 8-0 record. That team or certainly last year's Rebel team would have destroyed those '99 dogs.

ESPN didn't post the the segment where Saunders asked King about the "best coach in state history" question, which is probably for the best. Of all the football coaches in the history of Mississippi, Shaun King proclaimed Sylvester "goo goo g'joob" Croom as the greatest. He of the 21-38 (10-30 SEC) career record. He of the one winning season in 5 years. He of the "be good or be gone" mantra, despite the Urban Myer-esque arrest numbers during his tenure.

The man was an absolute fraud... a clown propped up by the local media fascinated with his skin color. Even the most loyal of bulldog faithful were happy to see him axed because he just flat out couldn't coach. Or recruit. Or conjugate verbs correctly. He was an embarrassment and left the program in as equally as bad a shape as he inherited it.

Despite all of those achievements, Shaun King proclaimed him the best coach in Mississippi's history. Not Johnny Vaught. Not Jeff Bower. Sylvester Croom.

John Saunders and Mike Lupica ruined The Sports Reporters with their personal agendas, so it's not surprising to see Saunders in on a stunt like this. Shaun King is new to the gig, so he was probably just doing what he was told. ESPN always had a fascination with Croom and this was just another way for them to sing his praises, which is not the easiest thing to do when you have a record like Croom's.